Dangerous Intelligence

Katsuki had noticed that Deku hadn't promised to go all out but he'd also seen the other boy's haunted eyes.

There was a reason Deku's mumbling pissed him off. He had always done it and there was no filter for them.

Now, when saying Deku's words were unfiltered, it was in a totally different way than Katsuki's. No, he wouldn't have a problem with that. To be honest, Deku was always frustratingly polite, if he talked to anyone at all.

It was the Quirk related crap which he broadcasted, that was the problem.

Katsuki would be lying if he claimed that he didn't learn anything from Deku's absentminded chatter. It was in part because of it that Katsuki had learned to self-analyze Explosion and come up with new ideas for applying it. This was actually part of the way that he learned how to study both his Quirk and his surroundings for his plans.

Even as he learned to figure shit out for himself, new ideas still would come from the Deku Peanut Gallery, especially while he was scribbling in those notebooks. Deku never seemed to realize that the first time Katsuki had used his Quirk to fly happened shortly after he'd mumbled about it.

Even when he spouted this helpful shit, it annoyed Katsuki that Deku sometimes seemed more knowledgeable about Explosion than he was. Katsuki was the one who had the Quirk. No one was going to know it better than him! Sure as hell not the quirkless loser!

Looking back, he supposed that Deku's analysis would have probably pissed him off for that reason, alone. Even as he'd also spurred Katsuki to work on Explosion, if only to ensure that no one understood his Quirk better than him.

But Deku didn't just mumble about ways Katsuki could apply his Quirk. That wasn't even the most infuriating part.

No, because Deku also brought up some really creepy shit, sometimes. The type that gave Katsuki nightmares. Katsuki hated hearing his weaknesses and how they might be used against him.

It was frustrating and often drew the dividing line between Katsuki being annoyed by his presence and being absolutely done with his shit. He wasn't going to listen to that crap but he certainly wasn't going to just ditch Deku to spout it for every passerby to hear.

And it seemed like the more he did to Deku and the harder he shoved him away, the more the other boy's mumbling would shift from stuff he actually might have wanted to hear to weaknesses and how they could be used to incapacitate him and the rest of their group… Often in brutal detail.

Any idiot who thought Deku was all sunshine and rainbows must be blind and deaf.

And then the guilty look on Deku's face when he realized what he was thinking, like he could ever actually be capable of hurting them. Like they would be too weak to stop him if he tried.

Like he was scared he could bring the nightmares he gave to Katsuki into reality.

So, yeah, it certainly had fed his belief that Deku had looked down on them.

It pissed Katsuki off, when they were little. This Quirkless NOBODY, thinking he could rub shoulders with him and choosing not to.

Not that Katsuki would have let him have the pleasure. The thought had just made him want to blast him all the more. Sometimes he did, too. He'd often gone out of the way to make sure to remind Deku that he was just that: a useless nothing.

Looking back now, fighting the wave of self-disgust, he now understood that Deku wasn't looking down on them… But that didn't change the fact that those observations he made about their weaknesses had been disturbing and that only gotten more accurate over time. Sure, it applied for everything else he mumbled about too, but it was that which stood out the most. Sometimes, rather than feeling offended that Deku assumed he could hurt people if he wanted—which he clearly didn't—Katsuki felt his gut twist with unease.

Never scared, because who would be afraid of quirkless, uselesless Deku? But unsettled, nonetheless.

Despite what he just said to the nerd about not holding back, he understood that, unlike him, Deku had to draw a carefully held line for himself. While Katsuki screamed about killing his opponents, Deku had to quietly remind himself to be careful or he would.

And there'd be no mercy for any poor bastard that might ever shove him beyond that line.

Nezu looked out of the window of his room at the brightening sky.

From outside, his personal space was hardly distinguishable from any other, so high up. But the space behind this window was hardly the open room that the pane of glass would leave a distant onlooker to believe. Sections of the window were walled off, only a few rooms and small halls actually giving him a view out to the campus below; his size allowing him to make two floors out of the space, rather than one.

It was amazing how the lack of spatial awareness most humans possessed allowed for Nezu to claim huge spaces without any questions asked. Of all the humans who caught on that there was a conference room sized spaces that went unused on the building map – not even considering the average space between the walls of each room – most were also smart enough not to question just what Nezu was doing with it.

Most humans would consider the dimensions of his home 'cramped' and would be very likely feel claustrophobic in it, but Nezu took comfort in the smaller spaces graced with dimmer, gentler lighting than that provided by the buzzing florescent bulbs humans had installed in most buildings. A good place to escape to when Nezu was finished in the open, exposed, unnaturally lit rooms that he spent his days working in.

Right now, he was sitting in the second largest room of his home, a combination of living room and kitchenette. He was sitting in his comforter, watching the sun rise.

Dawn was Nezu's favorite time of day. He loved watching the slow change of dark to light as color flooded into the world and the gradual rise in temperature that came with it, thanks to a star millions of miles away.

For someone who's whole world could once be measured in meters that were cordoned off by walls, it was often overwhelming to think about such open distances.

Nezu flicked the end of his tail as he slowly released a breath, just enjoying the moment.

He liked dusk too, but more often than not, he was too busy working at that time of day to give it any more than his passing attention.

He gazed off to the buildings beyond the school's walls. As beautiful as it was, he wondered what it must look like to humans, who could see an entire extra set of colors compared to him.

He watched the dorms, where most of the students were probably just starting to stir, although he would occasionally catch a glimpse of a small figure here or there already out and about.

Some people would probably think he was crazy for choosing to live in the building where he worked, such people clearly missed a very important fact.

Nezu wasn't human.

That meant that living in a society of humans was dangerous. Many couldn't even accept members of their own kind. How could he expect them to accept him?

Because of this understanding, Nezu had made sure to move behind the walls of the 'unbreachable fortress' that was UA at the earliest possible point in his professional career that he could manage. As such, over the years, he had been careful to continually update the security system. He had worked off the principle that, if he didn't think it was good enough to keep him safe from the rest of the world, it wasn't good enough to protect his students, either. To say that he would be willing to stake his life on it wasn't just a figure of speech. He did so in a very literal sense of the words.

He was careful to take every opportunity he could to add another layer to the security. Did they really think he installed an army of robots just for the purpose of training? The kids that tore through them demonstrated the upper extreme of what Quirks could. Most wouldn't make a dent in them.

Just look at the number of kids who didn't take a point in the exam!

Of course, Nezu knew that there were problems with that approach for testing students. The hero commission was infuriatingly insistent, though. He'd barely been able to win the argument for the deactivation buttons as an alternative and they weren't exactly easy to reach.

So, if they couldn't serve as fair training equipment, he'd make sure they doubled as great security to keep the students safe. One command from him and they switched modes, those deactivation buttons disconnected from the circuits and the weaponry becoming far more effective.

Next year, he was going to have a set of them as 'training equipment' in every building too. He was even setting up a set of them to act as 'makeshift civilians' during rescue training. He refused to allow another USJ to happen on school grounds. Not while he was head of UA.

Suddenly, Nezu was distracted from his thoughts by a sound, causing him to look down the hall behind him, ears raised. There was a knock on the wall from deeper within, a section of hallway that paralleled one of the school's main ones, and Aizawa's voice from the other side demanding a meeting.

Even as surprised as he was that Aizawa was here so early, he wasn't surprised that the man knew where his home was, despite not really broadcasting its location. Not much got past him.

It was one of many things that Nezu liked about him.

Curious, Nezu rose from where he was seated and went over to a ladder that came out of a hole in the floor of the room and ran up into one in the ceiling. As he ascended and left the room behind, the rungs, instead of being in one wall, ran along all sides. As he reached an opening, he crawled into a hallway, hardly giving the section of ladder that ascended into the darkness above a second glance. As he made his way down the narrow hall toward his office, he passed one of the robots that doubled as audio recorders and cleaners.

Quickly, he slipped out of a space that led into what looked like a cabinet; a wooden cabinet ̶ Nezu tried to avoid metal boxes or anything that could make a metal on metal clang because of the memories they triggered ̶ but was actually his 'front door.'

He turned the knob and stepped out into the main room, closing and locking the door behind him. Nezu swiped a remote from his desk as a low volume but high pitch beeping sounded, too high for most human ears, too quiet for even Hound Dog to hear unless he were in the room. With a press of a button, it fell silent. He hardly needed his proximity alarm to know he had company.

With that taken care of, Nezu quickly opened the door to find Aizawa standing there, leaning against the wall. Stiff, clearly angry but trying to maintain control.

"Good morning!" Nezu called out perkily, "What brings you here so early?" It was probably something to do with the fight last night. Nezu had figured he would check the footage this morning, trusting that Aizawa to be able to handle the situation and reach out to him if he was needed.

Although Nezu was careful to keep an eye on everything, the mammal had long found it was best to let the teachers take care of their students themselves unless his presence proved absolutely necessary. Of course, once he did step in, he tended to overdo things and had to exercise careful restraint, lest he start micromanaging.

"Midoriya told me the tale of the traveling quirk last night."

And with that one statement, Nezu knew that it was going to be an interesting day.

So, I think that Bakugou has always secretly been both jealous and afraid of Izuku's skills and this fed his anger at him. I don't think Izuku's notebook was a random target by any stretch of the imagination in the beginning of the season, while Bakugou is tearing Izuku down. That notebook represents everything about Izuku that 'pisses him off.'

Once again, I was having trouble writing this upcoming conversation out until I swapped POVs. So now, you not only get to see things through Nezu's perspective, but this scene beforehand where he is starting his morning. And I am glad I did. Thanks to how little we know about him, he was a very flexible character to write and I had fun.

I couldn't help but think of how Nezu described himself with references to dogs, bears and mice and wanted to reflect a unique being that might arise from that. I also wanted something to reflect his intelligence and controlling nature. Thus, his home became a series of tight spaces with a few comfortable openings. With further halls extending throughout UA full surveillance equipment, which I might have fun with later. I have plans for that.

I also tried to think of how his genius would fit into his work at UA. Now I've got a Genius, living in a fortress, who used 'training hero students' as an excuse to build his own robot army…and that's not even accounting for the fact that his hero course has kids which tested as the best of thousands and trained heroes of many types, all of which are skilled enough to handle such children. I suspect that the robot training army will never be used beyond child training in the series but there's no proof that they don't double as an active security measure yet and it isn't out of character for Nezu to set them up like this, so I'm running with it. Nezu is scary and I love it.

The perimeter sensors was an idea I got from reading another fanfiction: Deku? I Think He's Some Sort of Pro by myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown on . I'd recommend reading that and the other stories from the 'For The Want of a Nail' series, especially if you like Quirkless Izuku stories.